Golubnjača

Golubnjača is one of the most impressive caves within Plitvice Lakes National Park, tucked away in the Rastovača area, far from the park's main visitor trails. Unlike the popular Šupljara Cave along routes A and K, Golubnjača sits inside the park's strict protection zone and has been closed to visitors since 1991 — today it functions as a research site and wildlife refuge rather than a conventional tourist attraction.

What kind of cave is it?

The cave is made up of two large chambers with a combined length of roughly 165 metres. Its standout feature is a vast entrance hall measuring about 40 by 20 metres, naturally lit thanks to two sizeable openings — one facing south, the other west. That daylight gives the interior the feel of a broad, partly open rock amphitheatre rather than a dark, narrow passage. The chambers are richly decorated with stalactites and stalagmites, although close-up viewing is no longer possible.

Why is it closed?

Until 1991, Golubnjača operated as a show cave, much like several other sites within the park. After that, park authorities placed it — together with the neighbouring Crna pećina (Black Cave) — under strict protection. The reasoning is ecological: the naturally lit, humid interior forms an important microhabitat for cave-entrance vegetation and for animals, including bats and birds that shelter in the rock niches. Researchers continue to study the flora and microclimate of the entrance zone here, treating Golubnjača as a natural laboratory.

How can visitors learn about it, and what should you know?

Because the cave lies within a zone closed to tourist movement, there is no marked trail or close viewing point leading to it. Visitors to the park can still learn about it indirectly — Golubnjača and other caves, part of more than a hundred documented within the park's boundaries, are covered in the park administration's educational materials and information boards along the official routes. It's worth planning your visit around the lakes and waterfalls (routes A–K) and treating knowledge of the park's hidden caves as an extra layer of insight into the region's limestone karst geology.

What else is worth seeing nearby?

The Rastovača area sits within the wider Plitvice Lakes National Park complex, best known for its cascading system of sixteen turquoise lakes linked by waterfalls. The same karst processes — limestone dissolved by water over millennia — shaped both the lakes above ground and the network of underground caves below, Golubnjača among them. For geology and caving enthusiasts, simply knowing such formations exist beneath the park adds an extra dimension to a surface-level visit.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors go inside Golubnjača cave? No. The cave has been closed to visitors since 1991 and lies within the park's strictly protected zone.

How big is the cave? It has two chambers with a combined length of about 165 metres, including a large, naturally lit entrance hall roughly 40 by 20 metres.

Why was the cave closed to tourists? To protect a valuable microhabitat — entrance-zone vegetation and animals, including bats, for which the cave serves as a shelter.

Are there other caves in Plitvice Lakes National Park? Yes, around a hundred caves have been documented within the park, though most, like Golubnjača, are not open for visits.